Fear of being without phone tied to poor sleep in young adults
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College-aged adults who experience nomophobia are at a greater risk for increased sleepiness, avolition and poor sleep hygiene, according to research presented at SLEEP 2020.
“Previously, active phone use at bedtime has been implicated in disrupted sleep and related complaints, so to improve sleep, a good recommendation following such findings is limiting phone use before and during bedtime,” Jennifer Peszka, PhD, psychology professor at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, said during the presentation. “However, for those with the characteristic of nomophobia — or the fear of not having one’s mobile phone — the recommendation could exacerbate anxiety at and around bedtime and disrupt, rather than improve, sleep.”
The findings were initially published in Sleep, the journal of the Sleep Research Society, in May.
Peszka and colleagues recruited 327 adults aged 18 to 24 years through introductory psychology courses and campus newsletters that offered participants a chance to earn extra credit or win gift cards. These participants provided demographic information and completed the Nomophobia Questionnaire, the Epworth Sleepiness Scales, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index as well as questions from the Sleep Hygiene Index on related features of improper sleep hygiene. They also answered questions regarding technology use at bedtime.
Researchers determined that 89.4% of participants had moderate to severe nomophobia, which they noted was significantly higher than a 2012 study that found 77% of adults in this age bracket were nomophobic.
They found that having greater nomophobia was significantly related to higher daytime sleepiness, poor sleep and avolition. They also found that greater nomophobia was associated with more maladaptive sleep behaviors, including technology use at sleep time, long naps during the day, inconsistent wake and sleep times, the use of a bed for purposes other than sleep, and cognitive rumination during bedtime.
During the presentation, Peszka said the results suggest that nomophobia is increasing, so physicians may want to consider recommendations other than having these patients remove their phones from their bedroom.
“For those with nomophobia, interventions may instead focus on curtailing active phone use in and around sleep time through the use of timers, caller gates and reminder applications,” she said.